Finance. Fish | Books. BITS Goa | JP Morgan. Joka :D

The A to Z of what I learnt in college…

Avoid procrastination: It isn’t cool. It’s stupid.If there is something that needs to be done, do it. (PS: I am still working on this!)Build friendships: After everything that was learnt has been forgotten, after all that was earned has been lost, after moments are mere memories, these will stay.Credibility is everything: If you have said you’ll do something do it. . Keep promises. People should know you are somebody they can rely on.Debates> Discussions: Discussions are formal, sophisticated and best for the conference rooms. I prefer debates. Only when ideas are challenged and attacked and tossed and turned, does real real thinking happen.Ending what was begun : I started web designing, PSoC,finance and a hundred other things and quit midway when the novelty wore off. Not the wisest thing I’ve done. Always choose depth over breadth.Fonts are important: Comic Sans MS is cool, but it is hard to take you seriously when your mail looks like it has been written by a 5 year old. Pick a set of formal fonts, and stick to them. I still use Cambria for headings and Callibri for text. Old (DoSM) habits die hard.GPA matters: Atleast in the first few years after college.Yet it is probably the most commonly given, and most commonly ignored advice in BITSian history.Humility will take you places : No matter how good or great you get, always stay grounded. Everyone you meet is better than you at atleast one thing. Respect them for it. If possible, learn that one thing.It goes on: Robert Frost said he could sum up the essence of life with these three words. I think he was right.Jaha tak ho sake pyaar-mohabbat se suljha: Those hallowed words I had heard from a department thirdie after a minor hassle during my first Waves on campus. It will surprise you how paths meet. As far as possible, try not to make enemies.Keep Learning: 42% of college grads never read a book after college. There are courses online. There are books. There are people. Learning can happen anywhere. Extract every bit of it, from every place you can.Life is not unfair. Life is indifferent: You will be tempted to play victim, and saying life is unfair is the easiest thing to do. The universe doesn’t hate you. It doesn’t give a damn about you.Music- explore good music: Yaani,Beatles,LedZep,Doors,Floyd,Coldplay, the list can go on. DC overflows with music. Explore as much as you can. Create a playlist of favorites. It will help you, in good times and in bad.No matter how good you are at something, there is always someone who is leagues better than you. Over those campus walls, and beyond the beaches, there is a world, explore it: Visit the lake behind campus. Just sit there for a while and enjoy the silence and nothingness. Go on the odd EPAC outing. Watch birds. Have fun.Pursue your passion: As cliched as it may sound, college is a place where you find yourself. Try things. Find what you love. Be great at it.Queer,scrappy,bitchy,arrogant,sloopy: You’ll meet them all. People tend to be different. Don’t try to change them, you will almost invariably fail. Learn to live with them. The real world will be pretty similar.Room doors should always be open: When you aren’t studying, or doing anything that demands privacy, always keep your doors open. Wind and ideas are good for you. Let them flow.Scrappy is good: Everything in life will not come easy. Fight for what you really want. Its okay to be obsessive, no matter what they say.Teams are critical: No matter how self reliant or Howard Roarkish you are, a good team will always do wonders. In projects, in startups, in LIFE. As the old saying says if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.Use what talent you have: Never ever refrain from trying because you aren’t good enough. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the ones that sang best.Vocabulary: Don’t use awesome and epic to describe every phenomenon on the planet. Read books.Pick the odd newspaper. Build a good vocabulary. You’ll need it.Worry will get you nowhere: Give it your best, and lay back and enjoy the view. Li8, if used in the right sense is a wonderful thing.Xerox copies of important documents can come in handy. Also, it is okay to come up with lame points when you can’t find a good x word.You are probably getting tired of this by now: Know your audience. Present accordingly.ZZZZZ: Sleep. Often and regularly. These things have a habit of catching up with you in the long run.